A Boston College sports blog capturing the highs and lows of being a BC fan living 1,000 miles from Chestnut Hill.

Tuesday, October 07, 2014

The problem with Playing for the Mob

I wanted to love this movie and come out as a big Jim Sweeney fan. After watching ESPN's 30 for 30 on Playing for the Mob, I am disappointed in both.

First, the actual movie. I think 30 for 30 is one of the best things ESPN has ever done. I especially think the college sports subject matters work best since they haven't been exhausted by other outlets. The U, The Best that Never Was, and Pony Excess were excellent. Even Chris Herren's movie -- that wasn't officially a 30 for 30 -- was great. This film lacked the energy and flow of those previous movies. There was nothing original. It was competent enough, but the pacing was slow. But the biggest problem with the film was the probably its selling point in getting made -- the Goodfellas' connection. Goodfellas is a masterpiece. The acting, the drama and even the humor are still fresh with each viewing. That film takes you into a world and gives you the look, the feel and even the smells of this unique time and place. If you are going to incorporate Goodfellas into your documentary and even top it off with Ray Liotta's narration, you better have something great and fresh. This isn't it. Goodfellas builds into a frenzy, especially during Hill's coke-fueled arrest. This film doesn't build. Instead it scatters all over the place. First it is a low-level mob story. Then a college jocks getting in over their heads film. Then it becomes a Henry Hill story and then it becomes a Kuhn-Sweeney story. It is certainly not a BC story and it is not really a college basketball story.

The film wraps up with Sweeney's anger and frustration with his part in the scheme, his association with the scandal and his relationship with BC. He's adamant that he didn't shave games and that he was just in over his head. College kids do dumb things. We all make mistakes that can follow us long after. I don't know what Sweeney did or didn't do. The film gives him his time to clear his name but like the juror in the film, I still feel like Sweeney knew and did more than he admitted.

Of other folks BC figures featured, Bowie comes off well and didn't get a fair shake. McDonald represents BC well but also helped expose how sloppy and disorganized the whole fix was. Cobb seems to have a healthier perspective than Sweeney. I don't understand why Tom Davis still can't talk about it.

The film does confirm that this was always a sexier story than an actual conspiracy. No one made real money. They couldn't shave games properly. It was only uncovered because of Hill's big mouth. I don't think BC ever did anything wrong. This could have happened anywhere...even BU like Hill initially remembered. The school suffered a media black eye and was amplified years later with the Football gambling scandal. Maybe this film will finally put it all to bed. I understand why the school doesn't want to deal with Jim Sweeney. Why should they? What does BC owe Sweeney? Who is entitled to closure in life for anything? Let alone when you are potentially culpable in a crime. Sweeney brought out his Eagle of the Year award for the film. Even if he didn't commit a crime, did he really live up to the ideals of the award?

I don't expect BC to change its position on any of the guys involved and I don't think they should.

22 comments:

It never occurred to me until tonight how absolutely terrifying that must have been for those players. I'm not justifying colluding with mobsters, but I can imagine that I might have "reluctantly participated" also if I were in their position. What else could they have done? "Hi Coach! Hi Fr. Monan! I'd like you to contact the New York mobsters who just robbed an airport at gunpoint for $5 million, and have murdered 30 people in the past few months, and please ask them to leave me and my teammates alone. Also, please ask them to go easy on me and my loved ones and let them know that I only turned them in because I am bound by our Jesuit tradition and the student honor code."

It felt the whole time that Sweeney and Cobb were trying to cover their own tracks. The mobsters, especially the Perla's, were very good at talking without actually saying anything, but that shouldn't be surprising.

There was a lot of "I don't recall specifically..." and "I don't think that happened..." throughout the movie, especially when talking about the threats of violence and Cobb and Sweeney taking money. I particularly liked when Rocco Perla talked about showing up at Sweeney's dorm in Edmonds and saying "We had no intention of hurting anybody." Probably not, but you sure knew what it was going to look like to the kid.

Do you have some doubts about BC's involvement in events that occurred 36 years ago?

BC had no involvement. There are no doubts at all. Even the Boston Globe, said as much just this past March:

"No other BC player was implicated in the conspiracy. Nor was any BC employee involved, and the basketball coaches reported seeing nothing suspicious. .. The BC staff knew nothing about the conspiracy until the news broke nearly two years later."

And you suggest BC had a football gambling scandal too:

"The school suffered a media black eye and was amplified years later with the Football gambling scandal. "

There was no BC football gambling scandal. From the 1996 NYT---------------------------"Two Boston College football players bet against their team when the Eagles met Syracuse on Oct. 26, a local law enforcement official said today. They were among 13 players suspended from the team for placing bets on college and professional sporting events in violation of National Collegiate Athletic Association rules.

Thomas F. Reilly, the Middlesex County District Attorney, said that investigators were satisfied that point-shaving had not taken place. ''We have found absolutely no evidence, no indication of any game, the outcome of any game, the score of any game . . .. was influenced or compromised in any way by players for Boston College,'' Reilly said this afternoon at a news conference on the college campus. ''We are satisfied that they were not in a position to influence the outcome of the game.''

Dan Henning, the Boston College coach, said that the two players accused of betting against the Eagles would be dismissed from the team. Reilly said that one of the two did not play against Syracuse because of an injury and that the other appeared on one kickoff. They were not identified. The district attorney said that the majority of the bets made by the 13 players were for $50 or less and involved professional and college football and some baseball games, including the World Series. He said two of the bets were for $800 and $1,000."

No games fixed. Football gambling scandal a media invention. Much ado about nothing. Why were shots of Whitey at the Lancaster St. garage shown? Why not some pictures of Al Capone, Gotti or the Boston Strangler? Bowie was treated in a most dishonest way. The Globe falsely claims he is one of the suspects. His b-ball career is finished. Was that just sloppy work or is there a pattern of racism? The Globe claimed Coach Skinner was "lazy". It's reporter boasted of a desire to punch a Black woman. What a creepy organization. 2. When will Lavine do something a more current story e. g. the Bernie Fine fiasco. 2 The most anticipated game of the year THE CLASH OF THE CRETANS sadly won't happen. Sucker punch Hunt broke his leg and can't perform. Crablegs will be on stage alone.

The NBA just signed a new tv deal worth a reported 2,5 billion per year. According to the Harris survey 6% of Americans claim the NBA as their favorite sport. 11% claim college football and 3% college basketball. College sports have more than twice as many fans as pro basketball yet get less tv revenue than the NBA. The ACC will distribute 22 mil per team or about 300million for the conference as a whole. Are all college sports generating less than 2 billion in media revenue? Something is amiss. Shouldn't all college presidents lobby Congress to pass a law restricting tv contracts to five years duration to prevent the one sided deals ESPN has inflicted on the various conferences? Media revenue for college sports should dwarf what the NBA gets.

Very good evaluation. NEDofSavinHill gave an astute observation on tv money. Where is the money going? Could there be a connection between tv revenue and gambling interests? The comment from Sweeney shows lots of remorse. Once upon a time, I visited a Catholic mafia church. Three gangsters in a car with the pastor called me over. I knew the pastor. One of the gangsters told me that they did not want to see me around again. I took their advice to heart. They have a dinner once a week in the parish hall. At one luncheon, a bomb was placed under a car. It blew up on the highway with a remote on an overpass. They still haven't found all the pieces. Sweeney could have suffered a similar fate.

It might just be a matter of motivation, but the fixers uniformly came across as more reliable narrators than Sweeney and Cobb. Could just be that the former group has nothing to lose, but it was hard to escape the feeling that both players were (to some probably marginal degree) more complicit than they now claim.

The most compelling figure, for me, was Bowie. He seemed to make very specific claims about questions he asked of Sweeney that went unanswered then, and continued to be unanswered in the documentary.

Unlike Atlanta Eagle I completely enjoyed this film. Quite a cast of colorful characters. The sleeper for me was Kevin Mackey w/ his thick Boston accent. I loved the shots of Roberts, but some of the clips they presented as having taken place during the games in question were from earlier. Twice they showed Wilfred Morrison who was long gone by then. I also noticed a classmate of mine on a shot of the crowd which was supposed to be of the HC game, but couldn't have been because he was 2 years gone. I went to the game at ST Johns that year In which we were completly taken apart. Depending on whose version you believe it was one of the shaving games.Cobb very uncharacteristicly couldn't put the ball in the ocean that night.

Just some observations from someone who was following the team closely back then. I think this whole escapade was a disaster for all evolved accept that creep Hill, who never got what he deserved. I think it shows why we pray to not be led into temptation. A bunch of young guys found that out all to well in this tale.

I actually enjoyed watching this 30 for 30, especially since it managed to feature many of the people involved in the unfortunate events. I read the book "Fixed: How Goodfellas Bought Boston College Basketball" a few years ago, and I thought it was a good analysis of what might have taken place. I felt the book was a bit hard on Mr. Sweeney and Mr. Cobb in light of the evidence, but it was harder on Mr. Kuhn than the show. What was missed in the show was how the trial was stacked against Mr. Kuhn. I am not saying he deserved leniency, but, if the book is correct, it was not the best showing of an American court of law.

Also, never let this fact escape your thinking on this; Henry Hill was a liar, plain and simple. When he talks, it's an amalgamation of truths, half-truths and lies. He cannot be taken at his word, and I would offer the same of his compatriots. If you're going to be a removed judge of others and events, it has to be evidence based and not just on who tells the best story, liars are great story tellers.

If Sweeney is today saying he was not involved in the game-fixing, his memory Is flawed. Why did he not approach the Athletic Director Flynn and share his suspicions as Mike Maycock suggested. Did he not tell someone after game he missed a free throw because he saw a pair of white shoes attached of around the basket? Or, how about his fouling out on purpose during the last Holy Cross game? Did BC graduate give Ed McDonald give Sweeney a pass to protect the university's reputation? Students like Sweeney as just as likely to rig games as are any other athlete? In Sweeney's case, he did not figure working for the Lucchese Family, James Burke, and Richard Perry carrie a risk he did not appreciate.

If Sweeney is today saying he was not involved in the game-fixing, his memory Is flawed. Why did he not approach the Athletic Director Flynn and share his suspicions as Mike Maycock suggested. Did he not tell someone after game he missed a free throw because he saw a pair of white shoes attached of around the basket? Or, how about his fouling out on purpose during the last Holy Cross game? Did BC graduate give Ed McDonald give Sweeney a pass to protect the university's reputation? Students like Sweeney as just as likely to rig games as are any other athlete? In Sweeney's case, he did not figure working for the Lucchese Family, James Burke, and Richard Perry carrie a risk he did not appreciate.

If Sweeney is today saying he was not involved in the game-fixing, his memory Is flawed. Why did he not approach the Athletic Director Flynn and share his suspicions as Mike Maycock suggested. Did he not tell someone after game he missed a free throw because he saw a pair of white shoes attached of around the basket? Or, how about his fouling out on purpose during the last Holy Cross game? Did BC graduate give Ed McDonald give Sweeney a pass to protect the university's reputation? Students like Sweeney as just as likely to rig games as are any other athlete? In Sweeney's case, he did not figure working for the Lucchese Family, James Burke, and Richard Perry carrie a risk he did not appreciate.

If Sweeney is today saying he was not involved in the game-fixing, his memory Is flawed. Why did he not approach the Athletic Director Flynn and share his suspicions as Mike Maycock suggested. Did he not tell someone after game he missed a free throw because he saw a pair of white shoes attached of around the basket? Or, how about his fouling out on purpose during the last Holy Cross game? Did BC graduate give Ed McDonald give Sweeney a pass to protect the university's reputation? Students like Sweeney as just as likely to rig games as are any other athlete? In Sweeney's case, he did not figure working for the Lucchese Family, James Burke, and Richard Perry carrie a risk he did not appreciate.

If Sweeney is today saying he was not involved in the game-fixing, his memory Is flawed. Why did he not approach the Athletic Director Flynn and share his suspicions as Mike Maycock suggested. Did he not tell someone after game he missed a free throw because he saw a pair of white shoes attached of around the basket? Or, how about his fouling out on purpose during the last Holy Cross game? Did BC graduate give Ed McDonald give Sweeney a pass to protect the university's reputation? Students like Sweeney as just as likely to rig games as are any other athlete? In Sweeney's case, he did not figure working for the Lucchese Family, James Burke, and Richard Perry carrie a risk he did not appreciate.

If Sweeney is today saying he was not involved in the game-fixing, his memory Is flawed. Why did he not approach the Athletic Director Flynn and share his suspicions as Mike Maycock suggested. Did he not tell someone after game he missed a free throw because he saw a pair of white shoes attached of around the basket? Or, how about his fouling out on purpose during the last Holy Cross game? Did BC graduate give Ed McDonald give Sweeney a pass to protect the university's reputation? Students like Sweeney as just as likely to rig games as are any other athlete? In Sweeney's case, he did not figure working for the Lucchese Family, James Burke, and Richard Perry carrie a risk he did not appreciate.

If Sweeney is today saying he was not involved in the game-fixing, his memory Is flawed. Why did he not approach the Athletic Director Flynn and share his suspicions as Mike Maycock suggested. Did he not tell someone after game he missed a free throw because he saw a pair of white shoes attached of around the basket? Or, how about his fouling out on purpose during the last Holy Cross game? Did BC graduate give Ed McDonald give Sweeney a pass to protect the university's reputation? Students like Sweeney as just as likely to rig games as are any other athlete? In Sweeney's case, he did not figure working for the Lucchese Family, James Burke, and Richard Perry carrie a risk he did not appreciate.

If Sweeney is today saying he was not involved in the game-fixing, his memory Is flawed. Why did he not approach the Athletic Director Flynn and share his suspicions as Mike Maycock suggested. Did he not tell someone after game he missed a free throw because he saw a pair of white shoes attached of around the basket? Or, how about his fouling out on purpose during the last Holy Cross game? Did BC graduate give Ed McDonald give Sweeney a pass to protect the university's reputation? Students like Sweeney as just as likely to rig games as are any other athlete? In Sweeney's case, he did not figure working for the Lucchese Family, James Burke, and Richard Perry carrie a risk he did not appreciate.

If Sweeney is today saying he was not involved in the game-fixing, his memory Is flawed. Why did he not approach the Athletic Director Flynn and share his suspicions as Mike Maycock suggested. Did he not tell someone after game he missed a free throw because he saw a pair of white shoes attached of around the basket? Or, how about his fouling out on purpose during the last Holy Cross game? Did BC graduate give Ed McDonald give Sweeney a pass to protect the university's reputation? Students like Sweeney as just as likely to rig games as are any other athlete? In Sweeney's case, he did not figure working for the Lucchese Family, James Burke, and Richard Perry carrie a risk he did not appreciate.

Sweeney was being ingeniousness! Definitely involved in the rigging scandal. How about when BC played UCLA at Pauley? Sweeney keeping the ball out of Ernie Cobb's hands! In one game. How about the game at St.John's. Tom Davis did not see Sweeney keeping the ball out of Cobb's hands. The team's leading scorer recorded 6 points.Sweeney's lack of candor in 2015 tells me he should have been prosecuted just like Kuhn, Cobb (acquitted) and the rest of the culprits like Perry, Perlas, and the others who made lots of money on the BC shenanigans! Not throwing stones at Sweeney as he knows the truth!